Cellulose Nanofibril/Reduced Graphene Oxide/Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Aerogels for Highly Flexible and All-Solid-State Supercapacitors

Abstract

A novel type of highly flexible and all-solid-state supercapacitor that uses cellulose nanofibril (CNF)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/carbon nanotube (CNT) hybrid aerogels as electrodes and H₂SO₄/poly­(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) gel as the electrolyte was developed and is reported here. These flexible solid-state supercapacitors were fabricated without any binders, current collectors, or electroactive additives. Because of the porous structure of the CNF/RGO/CNT aerogel electrodes and the excellent electrolyte absorption properties of the CNFs present in the aerogel electrodes, the resulting flexible supercapacitors exhibited a high specific capacitance (i.e., 252 F g^–1 at a discharge current density of 0.5 A g^–1) and a remarkable cycle stability (i.e., more than 99.5% of the capacitance was retained after 1000 charge–discharge cycles at a current density of 1 A g^–1). Furthermore, the supercapacitors also showed extremely high areal capacitance, areal power density, and energy density (i.e., 216 mF cm^–2, 9.5 mW cm^–2, and 28.4 μWh cm^–2, respectively). In light of its excellent electrical performance, low cost, ease of large-scale manufacturing, and environmental friendliness, the CNF/RGO/CNT aerogel electrodes may have a promising application in the development of flexible energy-storage devices